CINEMA: Unstoppable

Although the star names on the billboards for this film may read Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, there is one huge, massive, pulling power presence in this movie; a 777 freight train.

The 777 steams through (metaphorically) the best scenes of this action thriller like a mighty railroad King Kong, making all about it look minute and insignificant by comparison. It starts its journey as a gentle giant, slowly chugging across a freight yard, but due to the incompetence (and some would say downright negligence) of two yard workers, it unleashes its (speed) restrictions and is soon hurtling down the track through Pennsylvania at 150 mph with 39 packed cars in tow.

Enter our everyman heroes — experienced train engineer Frank (Washington) and his rookie conductor Will (Pine) — who are soon in hot pursuit aboard their own sizeable rig, guided by the calm voice of controller Connie (Rosario Dawson) back at the yard, who is going to put them on a course to catch up with the runaway train and stop it — if they can.

This, in essence, is the whole plot of Tony ‘Top Gun’ Scott’s new movie and the fact it proves to be such enjoyable hokum is less down to the acting talents of the always good Washington and more to the humungous size of the 777. When this things rumbles past it makes your bones rattle; it takes over the screen; it dominates like a raging bull. It is intimidating and heavy and cold, hard metal and comes across like an overweight, wayward, stroppy teenager that refuses to be chastised. The fact much of the action was shot on a real freight train (rather than being CGI) only adds to the visceral feel of proceedings.

So yes, there may be too many mobile phone conversations punctuating the full-on action shots, and yes, it could really be any actors up there on that engine, and there really is no way to paper over the gaping holes in the plot. But frankly, who cares when you can ride up there on this brooding behemoth as it hurtles through crossings and startled towns, two puny humans in hot pursuit. In the assured hands of thriller director Scott this is one film where the machines really do rule the day.